News Analysis India

Tag: Ajay Tandon

  • Anger against Covid-19 surge? Congress set to clinch MP’s Damoh assembly seat

    Express News Service
    BHOPAL: Anger of an assembly by-election being thrust upon them despite the spike in COVID-19 cases seems to have taken a toll on the political prospects of the ruling BJP in at least one seat in Madhya Pradesh.

    The ruling party was set to lose the assembly by-poll to the Damoh seat of Damoh district, with the old warhorse of the opposition Congress party Ajay Tandon set to defeat BJP candidate Rahul Singh Lodhi by a handsome margin on Sunday.

    After 21 rounds of counting, the Congress veteran was leading by 14,552 votes. With just five rounds of counting remaining, the Congress candidate was set to emerge victorious from the seat by a significant margin.

    Importantly, the Damoh seat has always been prestigious for the BJP as its veteran politician and ex-finance minister Jayant Malaiya has won it six times, before losing in 2018 to Congress rookie Rahul Singh Lodhi by just around 800 votes.

    However, just two years later the giant-killer, first-time Congress MLA changed sides, switching over to the ruling BJP, after quitting from the Vidhan Sabha. Since then the Congress has been canvassing public support for its candidate Ajay Tandon, by targeting Rahul Singh Lodhi on the Dal-Badlu (turncoat) plank. According to political watchers, there was public angst against Lodhi for forcing the by-poll on Damoh, which is among those MP districts, witnessing fresh COVID-19 cases in three-digit figures.

    Importantly, owing to the groundswell against Lodhi, the BJP never went ahead in any of the rounds. The party even trailed perhaps for the first time in decades in the urban ward housing BJP’s all-powerful Malaiya family. The BJP candidate even polled fewer votes than his Congress rival in his own village booth.

    Enthused by the outcome, the state Congress spokesperson Narendra Singh Saluja demanded CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s resignation in the wake of the Damoh by-poll result.

    “Damoh by-poll was actually fought by the CM himself, leaving behind the entire state to be swept by the COVID pandemic. He should take moral responsibility of the party’s loss and also pushing the lives of the state’s people in danger and quit from his post,” Saluja tweeted.

    A senior BJP leader from the Bundelkhand region, however, said the Damoh debacle was a fallout of a Lodhi caste candidate being fielded by the party.

    “The entire by-election ended up becoming a Lodhi caste vs all others battle, owing to which it was the candidate and not the party, which lost,” the state BJP leader said.

  • MP bypoll: BJP accuses Congress nominee of distributing money

    By PTI
    BHOPAL: The ruling BJP in Madhya Pradesh has approached the Election Commission demanding that the candidature of Ajay Tandon, who is Congress’ nominee for Damoh Assembly bypoll scheduled next month, be cancelled as he allegedly distributed money to voters.

    While the BJP cited a video clip in its memorandum to the EC, the Congress on Saturday dismissed the allegations against its candidate saying he was only distributing badges to people during campaigning, but the ruling party is projecting the act as distribution of currency notes.

    BJP state secretary Rajneesh Agrawal told PTI that a memorandum was submitted to the Election Commission demanding action against Tandon for “distributing money to villagers”.

    “We also demanded that the EC cancel the candidature of Tandon for distributing money. It is clear from the video that he distributed money to villagers during campaigning,” he said.

    State Congress spokesman Durgesh Sharma denied the allegations, saying the BJP is misleading people as it is set to lose the byelection.

    “Ajay Tandon was actually distributing badges (campaign material) to people but the BJP is projecting that he was distributing money,” Sharma said and released a video in support of his claim.

    Meanwhile, an Election Commission official told a delegation of BJP leaders that a report will be sought on their complaint.

    The BJP has fielded Rahul Lodhi against Tandon.

    The bypoll, to be held on April 17, was necessitated after Lodhi, the sitting MLA from the constituency, quit the Congress in October last year, days before the November 3 byelections to 28 seats.

    Counting of votes will take place on May 2.